Apollo's Awakening

Part 10: Lover's Heart Dost Fill

O Nightingale! that on yon bloomy spray
Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still,
Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost fill,
While the jolly hours lead on propitious May.
~John Milton, "To the Nightingale"~

Instantly he regretted it.

Callie stood by the window, staring at the buildings in the distance. A small tear ran down her cheek, but the rest of her face was still.

Whoops. Forgot to knock. He thought about leaving, but then he would never build the confidence to come back. He couldn't reassure her, that would be too weird.

So he stood in the middle of the office, awkwardly watching a woman cry.

He desperately wanted to help her, to see what was wrong, but he didn't know how to without scaring her. I have to do something quick, or she'll turn and notice me standing here. She'll think I am some stalker for sure. He took a breath. "Are you okay?"

Slightly startled, Callie turned and knocked the picture frame from her desk. "What? Oh, uh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you came in. Lemme just..." She knelt down, bumping the desk and spilling a cup of pencils in front of him. "Oh great. Hang on, I'll um, be ready in a minute."

Apollo got down as well, gathering the pencils. Once he found them all, he searched for the cup. He noticed a flash of blue underneath the desk, and he practically scrambled to get to it. He grabbed the cup, and, a little too quickly, sat up, bumping his head on the desk.

He got up clumsily, smiling sheepishly. Callie stood as well, stifling a giggle, and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. She cleared her throat, then placed the picture frame face down on the desk. Apollo noticed two faces on the picture as she put it down, but he dismissed this and put the cup of pencils on her desk.

"So, um, how are you?" She asked, stroking her hair nervously. It was brown, and had a slight wave to it.

"Uh, I'm well. I didn't mean to intrude, I'm the new intern and I just wanted to ask if you wanted to, um, chat over coffee or something?" He said, occasionally stumbling on his words. "Just so that we could, I don't know, become acquaintances or maybe even friends?"

She blinked, and he suddenly became self-conscious. Are my shoes untied? Do I smell funny?

"I just thought that, since I am new, I should get to know my coworkers a bit. It seemed like the nice thing to do." She smiled at that. "Hm, well, I don't think any new workers have ever done that before."

Disappointment filled his chest. It must have covered his face too. "No, I mean that, they haven't ever really had the courage to do that before. Most guys in the office pretty much avoid everyone, unless they have ulterior motives. Every now and then one of the girls and I will go out for a drink or something, but never the guys. You seem nice enough anyway." He grinned like a delighted child who just received a gold star. "But, I'm kind of busy at the moment. Maybe instead we could meet tonight at around five-ish? It's Friday, so I get off a little early," Apollo noticed that she moved her fingers as she spoke, lightly tapping them on the desk. She had delicate fingers, like those of an artist. "I'll meet you at Blue Hill; it's this delicious place on 18th Street, I'm sure you'll love it." Her mouth formed a small smile, and a small dimple dotted her cheek, the cheek that before had a tear drifting down it.

"Great. I'll see you tonight." Apollo said as he crossed the room to the door.

"Oh wait!" He turned around to see her sitting in her chair. A small strand of hair hovered in front of her face. "I never caught your name."

He grinned once more, and as he opened the door, he replied. "Apollo."